[lbo-talk] lefties, fulfillment, happiness, cushy

Carl Remick carlremick at hotmail.com
Thu Jan 20 07:09:59 PST 2005


Also, fishermen do not all have such a happy-go-lucky life. I recently read a fascinating book, _Trawler_ by Redmond O"Hanlon, about life on a Scots fishing boat, the Norlantean K. 508. The Norlantean's skipper was so encumbered with mortgage payments on his vessel that the crew had to work around the clock for days on end to keep current with debt servicing. Much of the story was about the hallucinations that crew members typically experienced because of sleep deprivation. Capitalism has a thousand faces, and just about all of them are ugly.

Carl


>From: andie nachgeborenen <andie_nachgeborenen at yahoo.com>
>
>This is sanctimonious and insulting. I am glad you
>have such god ideas about how I should live. Now, will
>you set me up with a Mexican fishing boat and give me
>about 15 years lessons in fishing, plus providing
>Mexican national health insurance and pensions and
>state-subsidized educations for my kids? I didn't
>drift into my line of work. I considered voluntray
>poverty and its costs. Btw, my wife the schoolteacher?
>Works longer hours than me for a sixth of the pay. jks
>
>
>--- martin <mschiller at pobox.com> wrote:
>
> > From: Bill Stebbins
> > Subject: Retirement The Hard Way
> >
> > A business consultant was at a pier in a small
> > coastal Mexican village
> > when a small boat with just one fisherman docked.
> > Inside the small
> > boat were several large yellow-fin tuna. The
> > business consultant
> > complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish
> > and asked how long
> > it took to catch them.
> >
> > The Mexican replied, "Only a little while."
> >
> > The consultant then asked why didn't he stay out
> > longer and catch more
> > fish?
> >
> > The Mexican said he had enough to support his
> > family's immediate needs.
> >
> > The consultant then asked the Mexican how he spent
> > the rest of his time.
> >
> > The Mexican fisherman said, "I sleep late, fish a
> > little, play with my
> > children, take siesta with my wife, Maria, stroll
> > into the village each
> > evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my
> > amigos. I have a full
> > and busy life, senor."
> >
> > The consultant scoffed, "I am a Harvard MBA and
> > could help you. You
> > should spend more time fishing and, with the
> > proceeds, buy a bigger
> > boat. With the proceeds from the bigger boat, you
> > could buy several
> > boats, eventually you would have a fleet of fishing
> > boats. Instead of
> > selling your catch to a middleman you would sell
> > directly to the
> > processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You
> > would control the
> > product, processing and distribution. You would
> > need to leave this
> > small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico
> > City, then LA and
> > eventually NYC where you will run your expanding
> > enterprise."
> >
> > The Mexican fisherman asked, "But senor, how long
> > will this all take?"
> >
> > The consultant replied, "15-20 years."
> >
> > "But what then, senor?" asked the Mexican.
> >
> > The consultant laughed, and said, "That's the best
> > part! When the time
> > is right, you would announce an IPO and sell your
> > company stock to the
> > public. You'll become very rich, you would make
> > millions!"
> >
> > "Millions, senor?" replied the Mexican. "Then what?"
> >
> > The consultant said, "Then you would retire. Move to
> > a small coastal
> > fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a
> > little, play with
> > your kids, take siesta with your wife, stroll to the
> > village in the
> > evenings where you could sip wine and play your
> > guitar with your
> > amigos."
> >
> > http://www.people.cornell.edu/pages/bs16



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